About event
Abstract:
Polymers and their interactions with other material components such as nanoparticles and interfaces with water or air are fundamental to many engineering processes. They are particularly significant in current pursue of advanced manufacturing and innovations aimed at addressing global challenges related to sustainability and human wellbeing. Biomimicry and bio-inspiration has been a highly effective strategy for developing smart materials and engineering material interfaces with desired properties such as super wettability, switchable adhesion, shape adaptation, and sensing capability. In this talk, I will present an overview of our laboratory’s studies in the field of polymer nanotechnology, biomimicry, and interface science. Specifically, I will discuss the mechanistic understanding and functional design of bioadhesion systems, smart polymers based “active” material systems, and synergetic integration of individual functional components for the development of soft robotic devices and wearable technologies.
Short bio:
Prof. Boxin Zhao is a full professor in chemical engineering at the University of Waterloo in Canada. He obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from McMaster University in 2004, worked as a postdoc at UCSB in 2005-2008. Since joining the University of Waterloo in 2008, Professor Zhao has established and directed the Laboratory of Surface Science and Bionanomaterials. He has 150+ peer-refereed papers on the top journals including Macromolecules, ACS Nano, Advanced Materials, Nature Materials, and Chemical Society Reviews. He was awarded a prestigious Fulbright Visiting Research Chair at UCSB in 2015 and was appointed as University of Waterloo Endowed Chair in Nanotechnology in 2021, received the 2024 Ontario Professional Engineers Award. The current research interests of his group are in the areas of smart polymers, bionanomaterials, biomimetic adhesives and coating, wearables, surface science, robotic devices, 3D printing, microplastics, etc.
